When viruses infect the respiratory tract, they first come into contact with a viscous gel called mucus. Only viruses that can overcome this layer on the cells of the mucous membranes are able to infect a host. In the joint project ONEMUC, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) with 4.3 million euros, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and cooperation partners are investigating the role of mucus as a barrier in the transmission of zoonotic influenza A viruses. At the HZI, group leaders Prof. Christian Sieben and Dr Julia Port are investigating how mucus and environmental factors influence virus transmission. The five-year project started on March 1, 2026.

The microbiome performs a variety of health-maintaining functions in the body. The microbes can produce nutrients, dampen inflammation or displace pathogens. In order to fulfill all these tasks, the microbiome must be in balance. For the microbiome, this means first and foremost that it is as diverse as possible. This makes it harder for harmful microorganisms to find a niche to live in. If microbiome diversity decreases or harmful germs dominate, there is a risk of inflammation, infections or chronic diseases - and this is precisely where the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) comes in. Using “microbiome engineering”, Dr. Lisa Osbelt-Block and Prof. Till Strowig are specifically editing the gut microbiome to prevent disease.

Most bacteria, including many bacterial pathogens, are surrounded by an outer protective layer of sugar molecules, known as a capsule. This primarily protects the bacteria from environmental influences, but also serves as a kind of cloak of invisibility, enabling them to evade the phagocytes of our immune system. Structural biologists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) have now used cryo-electron microscopy to visualize the central Wza-Wzc protein complex, with which sugar molecules pass from the interior of the bacterial cell to the outside, in three dimensions at the atomic level for the first time. Their investigations also show how the channel is formed and which molecular players are involved in the active transport of sugar molecules through the channel. The researchers hope that their study will help identify target structures for potential drugs that could inhibit or completely prevent the formation of the bacterial capsule in the future. This would also make such bacterial pathogens vulnerable to attack by the immune system. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) in Hamburg and has now been published in the journal Nature Communications.